Leipzig Hauptbahnhof (Leipzig main station) is the central railway terminus in Leipzig, Germany. At 83,460 square metres (898,400 sq ft), it is the world's largest railway station measured by floor area. It has 19 overground platforms housed in six iron train sheds, a multi-level concourse with towering stone arches, and a 298 metres (978 ft) long facade.[1][2] Two Leipzig City Tunnel underground platforms were inaugurated in December 2013.[5]

Finally in 1898, the Leipzig city council decided on a joint terminal for Royal Saxon and Prussian state railways north of the city centre. A building contract with both organisations was signed in 1902 and an architectural competition with 76 participants was held in 1906. The winning design by the archtitects William Lossow (1852–1914) and Max Hans Kühne (1874–1942) featured two identical domed entrance halls facing the street, one for each company. The foundation stone was laid on 16 November 1909 and the platforms were gradually brought into operation station from 1912 onwards. When construction works finished on 4 December 1915, Leipzig Hauptbahnhof had become one of the world's largest railway stations with 26 platforms.

The separate administration of the Saxon and Prussian parts of the station continued even after World War I and the establishment of the nationwide Deutsche Reichsbahn railway organisation in 1920. Not until 1934 Leipzig Hauptbahnhof as a whole was assigned to the Reichsbahn directorate in Halle. By 1939, it had become one of Germany's busiest railway stations. The building was severely damaged by Allied bombing during World War II when during an air raid by the US Eighth Air Force on 7 July 1944 the roof over the concourse collapsed and the western entrance hall was destroyed. Numerous travellers and railway employees were killed. Rail traffic discontinued completely in April 1945.

Concourse, 1953

After the war, train service was quickly resumed. The hardly damaged eastern entrance hall was restored by 1949, and the western hall was rebuilt to its original appearance by the Deutsche Reichsbahn railway company of East Germany in the early 1950s. The concourse, however, remained without a roofing, until in 1954 the East German Council of Ministers resolved upon a complete reconstruction. The full restoration of Leipzig Hauptbahnhof was finished on 4 December 1965, 50 years after its inauguration.

After German reunification the station was renovated and modernized by the Deutsche Bahn AG. The concourse floor was removed and two basement levels were dug out to create a shopping mall. Other areas of the building were largely restored and modernized at the time. The modified station building was inaugurated on 12 November 1997.